Nightrise

Jamie struggled to sit up. He took the bottle and drank some more water, then poured the rest of it over his head. It felt ice cold, trickling down his neck and over his shoulders, and revived him instantly. "What are you talking about?" Jamie demanded. "Why do you want to help me?"
    "Later," Feather replied. "We can't talk now."
    "No." Jamie shook his head. "I don't know you. I don't know what you want. Why should I trust you?"
    The older man sighed in frustration. "I know you," he said. "I know who you are."
    "Who am I?"
    'You are one of the Five."
    It wasn't the answer that Jamie had been expecting. It made no sense to him at all. He tried another approach. "When I came here, you asked me if I had a brother," he said. "Have you seen him?"
    'You said you had no brother but last night, Mr. Koring told me your real name. You have a twin."
    Jamie ran a hand through his hair, squeezing our more of the water. "That's right," he admitted. "My name is Jamie Tyler."
    Joe Feather nodded. "There was a Scott Tyler here. He was sent to the Block…on the other side of the wall. But I wasn't here when he arrived. I didn't see him."
    'You're lying! You knew about the tattoo. He's got the same tattoo in the same place. You must have seen it!"
    "It was because of the tattoo that I knew who you were. There is much that I have to explain to you. But not now. Not here. I have friends who are already on their way here to help you. Tonight, when it is dark, you will leave…"
    "I'm not leaving without Scott!"
    Jamie had raised his voice and the intake officer turned anxiously toward the door, afraid that they might have been overheard. 'Your brother was brought here a few days ago," he whispered, the words tumbling over each other, "I don't go into the Block. I'm not allowed there. But sometimes I hear them talking and I know the names. He was here but he has gone again. They took him away."
    "When?"
    "The day before you arrived."
    "Where? Where did they take him?"
    Joe Feather cast his eyes down. "I don't know. They wouldn't tell me. All I can tell you is — he has gone."
    It was almost the worst news that Jamie could have heard. To have come so close! Scott had been here!
    If Jamie had arrived just a day earlier, everything might have been different. But his brother had already gone. Nightrise could have taken him anywhere in the world. His search was about to begin all over again.
    "If you want to find your brother, you must get out of this place," Feather urged him. 'You must do what I say. If you stay here, there is no hope."

"Wait a minute…"Jamie tried to collect his thoughts. Everything was still happening too quickly. "Tell me about the Block," he said. "That's what you call the units on the other side of the wall. But what's it for? How many kids are there locked up? What goes on over there?"
    "Please…" Feather looked pained. But he could see that Jamie was determined. "Listen to me," he whispered. "I've worked here only a few months. I don't know what goes on here. There are boys in the main prison and there are the specials. There is something they call the Psi project. I don't know what that means. And I don't work in the Block. Sometimes I see things. I see names on lists. And I hear the other supervisors talking. But it was just a job for me until I saw you. Then I knew I had to act…"
    "Why?"
    "Because of the tattoo!" Feather couldn't bear it anymore. He went over to the door and looked out. But there was no one in the corridor. The other isolation cells were empty. The two of them were on their own. "I will tell you everything," he promised. "But only when we are far from here."
    "All right." Jamie could see there was no point arguing. And he had no desire to spend a minute more at Silent Creek, not if Scott had already gone. "But there is one thing," he went on. "There's a boy named Daniel McGuire."
    "McGuire…" Feather nodded. 'Yes. I have seen that name."

    "He's in the Block?"
    ''Yes."
    "He's coming with me." Feather opened his mouth to argue but Jamie didn't give him time. "I'm only here because his mother helped me. I promised her. I can't leave him behind."
    "But there is no way into the Block. There are cameras and guards…"
    'You can help. You have to help me!"
    The supervisor gritted his teeth, then nodded. "I'll see what I can do. There is no more time to talk now.
    Mr. Koring will arrive very soon. I will come for you when it gets dark. Then we will see."
    "I'm not going anywhere without